Faithless face behind the religious mask

Planet America, this is where the American people live in a state of denial, indifference and Alzheimer’s. For an indoctrinated majority, which suffers alienation, apartheid, and apprehension, the inherent anarchy of the system, the dream of a ‘land of opportunity’ has come to a halt. It is a universe of an abstract freedom, where domination perpetuates not in the masqueraded form of technology alone, but as a naked terror of capital as well. Yet it has a strong material base for a change.

Sexual inhibition says Reich leads to sexual anxiety. The latter ignites the innate human aggression repressed by the civilization. If the society is convivial to instinctive drives, the mass production of sexuality itself becomes a source of its repression. In absence of a primal father, society needs an alternative to instill fear. To infuse conformism, the terror of society and fear of God become tools, handy enough to curb the refusals of the masses. Lest they forget, “In God, we trust” carved on Greenbacks keeps reminding the people about the power of Lord and the omnipotence of Almighty — the capital.

Religion being the part of superstructure, remains an instrument for the hegemony of ruling class over the masses. In underdeveloped countries, it hangs over the neck of non-conformists akin to a proverbial Damoclean sword. If grabbed by the dispossessed, it becomes a guillotine for the critical thought. State, which initially hires the mercenaries for its ulterior motives, ends up becoming an execution of their will. In process of rescuing the un-rescuable, the religious savagery becomes the hallmark of the society. The children of lesser God, whose vulnerability is doubly assured, are chosen to be crucified on the altar of political chicanery. The sacrifice annihilates the ‘self’ of the humanity.

In the land of the pure, the law relating to blasphemy is yet again in the limelight. The hysterical expression of the rulers, the sardonic behaviour of theocracy and the bizarre yet pernicious attitude of the lumpen simply reflect that redeeming the state from the quagmire of religious fanaticism has become an impossible task.

From a stigma of being an army with a state to the label of an outright rogue satellite, Pakistan has travelled a long distance in decadence. The pathology leads back to the very conditions of its creation. Led by the middle class, a replica of colonists, which had no history of political struggle, it clung to the shallowest slogan of religion. Unity and discipline do not thrive in a void. The chaos proves detrimental to their very foundation. Faith, without concrete basis becomes a mask for the faithless to settle personal vendettas. Consequently, millions who fled to escape economic woes found themselves condemned to a totalitarian state and religious terrorism.

Nowhere in the world has the religious opium ever replaced the objective human conditions. A hungry man is an angry man. Unhappy consciousness may be vulnerable to metaphysical yearning, but it is equally amenable to instant aggression that requires sublimated catharsis. In societies where cultural norms follow feudal characteristics, the un-sublimated Eros continue to simmer and tends to explode in the form of multifaceted neurosis. Alternatively, the repressed sexual anxiety finding its catharsis in religious fanaticism blasts itself in public.

In the land of the pure, the law relating to blasphemy is yet again in the limelight. The hysterical expression of the rulers, the sardonic behaviour of theocracy and the bizarre yet pernicious attitude of the lumpen simply reflect that redeeming the state from the quagmire of religious fanaticism has become an impossible task

For the last few decades, the more radical meanings of word Jihad/struggle have come to haunt the middle class of Pakistan. The ruling elite has twisted this barbarity to its advantage. In a show of sadism, the non-conformists, rebels and minorities are finding themselves in a gradual process of liquidation. It looks as if apart from the issue of blasphemy, a nation of 22 million has left with no other serious concern. The state appears as a symposium of insane actors who in their repulsive urge for conformism, are prepared to play their part in a Shakespearean tragedy named as Pakistan.

The ruling class of Pakistan today finds itself in a state of shambles. As Gramsci states “the conflict between ‘represented and representative’ has reverberated from the terrains of parties… reinforcing the relative power of bureaucracy (civil and military), of high finance, of the Church…which indicates the crisis of ruling class’s hegemony”. Would it open the way to a charismatic man of destiny or not is a matter of conjecture but to divert the class conflict, the rulers have found refuge in old shenanigan of inciting heroic-folkish-realism among the people.

Neither the Patricians nor the Pretorian Guards have any clue as to where the state is heading. The fire of hatred ignited by them has come back to burn the country itself. Have we learnt a lesson? Not yet, because the indefensible paranoia suffered and defended by the state alludes to this fact. Human beings are not supposed to defend the iconic religious figures since the task rests with the divinity. By taking up this job, the parliament has already brought the society to a brink of a disaster. “Chastity is a virtue with some, but with many almost a vice”. Nietzsche recites a parable; “Not a few who meant to cast out their devil, went thereby into the swine themselves”.

During Algerian war of independence, Sartre warned “France was once a country: be careful lest it become a name of a neurosis”. With infantile neurosis, gnawing at its every nerve, Pakistan has become an embodiment of this grievous mental disorder. Nietzsche implores to invent a justice that acquits every one, except he who judges. It is time to judge the judges either in a mufti or in uniform.

The writer is based in Australia and has authored books on socialism and history. He can be reached at saulatnagi@hotmail.com